Walmart Canada offers bonus for employees through COVID-19
Walmart Canada will provide 85,000 associates with an “appreciation bonus”, the latest retailer to reintroduce financial rewards for employees working through the pandemic.
The company announced on Friday that all store, distribution centre and fleet employees in Canada will receive a one-time pay bonus on Dec. 11. Full-time associates will receive $250, while part-time workers will qualify for a $150 reward. Managers will also receive a bonus, although the company did not disclose the amount. The bonuses will cost Walmart Canada $25 million.
"Our associates have quickly risen above and beyond to adapt to a new way of working, serving our customers while prioritizing all the safety measures we've implemented," Sam Wankowski, Walmart Canada’s chief operating officer, said in a statement.
“Today's bonus reflects our appreciation for our incredible associates who continue to ensure shelves are stocked, the checkout experience is fast, online orders are fulfilled, and customers have access to all their family needs."
Walmart Canada previously gave employees a bonus in March, when governments began to enforce COVID-19 restrictions. The company also provided employees with pandemic pay bonus of $2 per hour through April and May.
Last week, Sobeys parent company Empire reinstated its so-called hero pay program in regions affected by COVID-19 lockdowns, including Manitoba, Toronto and Peel Region in Ontario. Eligible employees will receive between $10 and $100 extra per week, depending on how many hours they work and how long the government lockdowns last.
Canada’s top grocery retailers were at the centre of public backlash earlier this year after ending the $2 per hour pay raise provided to store workers. Loblaw, Metro and Sobeys scrapped the pay raise on the same day, while Walmart Canada ended the program at the end of May. The companies said at the time that stabilizing demand and the lifting of lockdown restrictions prompted the return to pre-pandemic wages.
Executives from Loblaw, Metro and Sobeys had to testify in front of a House of Commons committee over the decision to end the pandemic pay raises, reiterating that the cancellations were made independently, despite the fact that the changes occurred on the same day.
Chapman’s Ice Cream, a Markdale, Ont. based company, has been an outlier through the pandemic, opting to make the $2 per hour pay raise it offered in mid-March permanent.
With files from the Canadian Press
Alicja Siekierska is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow her on Twitter @alicjawithaj.
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